Abyss
by OfficialJABiz
Summary: It has all led up to this... the FINAL EVENT! Can Ty and his allies stop the forces of evil from commiting the worst crime ever, or is he powerless to do anything? There's only one way to find out... Rated T for very mild language, intense thematic elements, and violence.If you want to know a little more on how this is structured, this is heavily influenced by Time runs out (Marvel
1. dedication and a word with copyright

**BEFORE I BEGIN: ALL CHARACTERS AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES THAT AREN'T LISTED AS OC'S (original content) ARE OWNED BY THEIR RESPECTIVE AUTHORS. ONLY THOSE CHARACTERS/INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES WHICH I MADE ARE OWNED BY ME. THI SO NOT INTEND TO MAKE ANY MONEY OFF OF THIS, AND AM MAKING THIS SOLELY FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. THIS HEREBY RELIEVES ME OF ANY COPYRIGHT OBLIGATIONS INCURRED BY WRITING THIS FANFICTION. THERE WILL BE A CHAPTER WHERE ALL NON-OC'S WILL BE LISTED TO SHOW THAT I AM NOT PASSING OFF OTHER PEOPLE'S ORIGINAL CONTENT AS MY OWN. THANK YOU.**

 **IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: ALL THE CHARACTERS AND EVENTS HERE ARE FICTIONAL, AND ANY RESEMBLANCE TO REAL LIFE PERSONS/ EVENTS ARE PURELY COINCIDENTAL. THE THOUGHTS, SAYINGS, AND ACTIONS OF ALL CHARACTERS IN THIS FANFICTION DO NOT REPRESENT THE AUTHOR'S OPINIONS ON ANY TOPIC DISCUSSED IN HERE. ANYTHING THAT MIGHT BE PERCEIVED AS A THREAT IN HERE IS PURELY FICTIONAL AND THE AUTHOR DOES NOT INTEND TO HARM ANYONE BASED ON THE CHARACTERS' SAYINGS WHICH MIGHT BE PERCEIVED AS THREATENING OR OFFENSIVE. AFTER READING THIS, THE READER HEREBY REMOVES FULL LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES CAUSED TO THEM BY THE TEXT. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ANYTHING IN THE TEXT, PLEASE CONTACT THE AUTHOR USING THE PM SYSTEM ON . THANK YOU.**

Anyways, now that the legal disclaimer has been set (hopefully I don't get sued), I will give acknowledgements to those I feel have influenced me the most. First and foremost is my family, without whom I wouldn't be here without. I give a big thank you to Sean for reading everything I write, whether it is the next Great American Novel or a terrible one-shot which I want to delete. I would also like to thank all my other friends for giving me inspiration for this work. I thank all of my language arts teachers for cultivating and nurturing a love for reading and writing within me. And finally, I dedicate this fanfiction to Kat Falls. Her works have inspired me to take on this challenge, and for that, I dedicate this to you.

Now, you might be saying, "Why did you write the acknowledgements before you wrote the actual story?" and to that, I reply, "'Murica!"

I hope you will enjoy this fanfic.


	2. List of non OC characters

**Note: This list will be updated as more is written.**

 **Ty townson (main character)**

Gemma Straid

Richard Straid

Carolyn Townson

John Townson

Zoe Townson

Eel

Trilo

Hatchet

Pretty

Shade

Jibby

Lars Peavey

Shurl Peavey

Hewitt Peavey

Raj Diriani

Representative Benton Tupper

All of Benthic Territory 

Captain Selene Revas

Trooper Escabedo

The Seaguard

Ria (sachem of Drift)

Drift Township

Surfs

Floaters

The Assembly of the Commonwealth 

Sharkboy

Lavagirl


	3. Chapter 1: The Introduction

**Author's Note: I am 1000000‰ responsible for any grammatical errors/ tense disagreements. It's hard to write something in the present tense, you know! Anyways, I sincerely hope you enjoy what was intended to be a quick gag, but soon grew into a monstrous project which'll probably consume the rest of my life. :)**

 **IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: ALL THE CHARACTERS AND EVENTS HERE ARE FICTIONAL, AND ANY RESEMBLANCE TO REAL LIFE PERSONS/ EVENTS ARE PURELY COINCIDENTAL. THE THOUGHTS, SAYINGS, AND ACTIONS OF ALL CHARACTERS IN THIS FANFICTION DO NOT REPRESENT THE AUTHOR'S OPINIONS ON ANY TOPIC DISCUSSED IN HERE. ANYTHING THAT MIGHT BE PERCEIVED AS A THREAT IN HERE IS PURELY FICTIONAL AND THE AUTHOR DOES NOT INTEND TO HARM ANYONE BASED ON THE CHARACTERS' SAYINGS WHICH MIGHT BE PERCEIVED AS THREATENING OR OFFENSIVE. AFTER READING THIS, THE READER HEREBY REMOVES FULL LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES CAUSED TO THEM BY THE TEXT. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ANYTHING IN THE TEXT, PLEASE CONTACT THE AUTHOR USING THE PM SYSTEM ON . THANK YOU.**

"Aaand... finished! I'll finally get some rest... wait, is this thing recording? What a load of chum... and I had this super epic introduction! Stupid voice recorders with their stupid faults..."

That was me. Or rather, me a few seconds ago. Since my voice-to-text device decided to magically start recording, (technology is dumb) I guess this will be my introduction. Hello. My name is Ty. I live in Benthic Territory, was born underwater, you know, the whole schtick. If you are reading this, you probably already read at least the first book I had written chronicling my adventures. If you haven't, I'll just give myself a merchandise plug—they are, in order: Dark Life, Rip Tide, and (my shortest one) one that I titled "Abyss Prelude". Ominous, isn't it?

This one that you—the hypothetical reader— are currently looking at will probably be titled "Abyss", and I'll explain that in a bit. This'll be my diary/archive of what I believe to be the end of days, at least for me. If you have already read my previous books, (thanks for buying them and letting me rake in all of the money) you are probably asking, "Why are you using present tense?". Well, I really don't know when I'm going to die, so I hope archiving this will allow my story to live on, et cetera, et cetera. Also, I AM 100% SICK OF USING THAT MOTHERF—

"Come on down and eat before I take all of your calamari!"

Annoying. Anyways, I think I should start introducing my family and stuff right about now... I promise this'll be the only chapter where I'll actually try to do an exposition! That is Zoe, my now ten year old sister who has a collection of very dangerous sea creatures. We live with my parents, John and Carolyn—

"I'm not bluffing!" Zoe calls out. _Guess I'll have to go_ , I say internally. Oh, and one more tidbit before I eat! My voice recording device can somehow record my thoughts and actions, as if it was a convenient plot device! What a crazy world we live in!

I rush to my plate, and I am relieved to see that I did not lose a single piece of Pa's famous salt-and-pepper calamari.

"What took you so long?" _Shoot_ , I thought. _I forgot to introduce Gemma. "_ Did you decide to alter your classification of your 'rare object' museum?" Her quips are known for being exceptionally hard to deflect, so I had to my best to respond.

"Well, it's not easy to change your writing style to the present tense! Plus, having a 10 year old bang on your door every fourteen seconds doesn't help either!" I retort defensively.

"So you did start the project?"

Nodding gravely, I eat my food silently. _I really hope my suspicions are proven false by some miracle, because everything we know would be screwed over_ , I say to myself for the 1000th time as I skewer a particularly large piece of squid with my fork. After finishing the rest of the delicious meal, I quickly run back to my room and close the door.

So, how do I describe Gemma? Well, she's my age, lives in my house, and all that other stuff, but her brother is (was) the leader of the most notorious gang in the Atlantic: the Seablite Gang. I mean, she also is kinda my girlfriend, but I don't usually think about that. _What should I write next? I mean, I already have three whole books introducing every character I know, so does that mean I just wait for something to happen?_

"Aha!" Gemma's voice pierced through my thoughts and made me wake up from my tepid state. "No wonder you take so long to write a sentence! Nothing interesting ever happens here! Come on, let's go to the trade station!"

"Alright, alright, I'll go with you." I rolled my eyes at her just before I jumped in the sleek new Slicky. If you don't already know, I got a new Slicky because the old one got wrecked by those nasty Seaguard characters... it's basically just a very large and comfortable submersible, which isn't very common down here. "I'm going to recalibrate the control panel," I say to Gemma, who was busy reading a Topside magazine about food or something. Suddenly, I hear a loud screeching noise, which causes her to jump, making her drop her magazine. I chuckle, since only one person could have done that: Zoe.

"And a wild Zoe appears! Very rare in this biome," I banter, as Gemma flushes, clearly confused by the recent events. "Will you be able to catch it?"

Zoe indignantly replies, "I am not a Pokermon! Not funny!" Trying to stifle a laugh, I manage to instruct Gemma on how to enter the coordinates in the main control screen. Gemma promptly engages the controls, which I taught her to use a few weeks ago, and announces, "We're off! Estimated time to arrival: 37 minutes."

As Zoe stares out of the window, I start to think about how I'll actually write the project. _If I want the most important information in thks, I will have to make time to add details. Yeah! This'll make it much easier to convey information! Maybe I should do it when I get back home..._

Soon, the imposing structure of the Trade Station approaches, with its many docks and substructures surrounding our view. "I guess that's going to be our stop," Gemma muses.


	4. Chapter 2: An Ominous Encounter

"Are you sure that this is a safe place to park the Slicky?"

"Of course. In fact, I have, on many occasions, done so without anything in it getting stolen. You just need to relax."

"Relax? When a sleek and powerful submersible is parked in this place? Look at it! It's really sketchy and seedy!"

"It'll be fine. Anyways, if you are so worried, just remember that she has top-notch security features and an alarm which could be heard by all of Benthic Territory!"

"Okay then, but that means you are releasing me from any responsibility if this gets stolen," Gemma sighs. She deftly parks the Slicky into a narrow space in the docks, and quickly climbs out. Zoe is the next to leave, calling out to me, "You better get out or else I'll get all of the ice cream!" This threat emboldens me, as I rush up the ladder to the open hatch of the submersible.

Stepping on the thinning floor of the Service Deck, I can't help but think that the Trade Station needs serious repairs. _The decay in here is serious, and nobody is even trying to clean it up. I'll lodge a complaint after we finish the errand,_ I note. _Gemma is already on the surface deck, so I better go up!_ The elevator ride wasn't much better, as it had the unmistakably toxic smell of mold, and creaked whenever I moved.

Before I reached the Surface Deck, I instinctively put on my trusty wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses, because I don't want sunburn or Topsiders to gawk at my glowing skin. Walking out on the deck, I felt the stiflingly hot air, even at 8:00 in the morning, start to choke me, and I really wished to just dive in the ocean. However, when I saw Gemma, she looked distraught, and Zoe was comforting her.

"What happened?"

Through her shudders and muted sobs, she managed to get in a single sentence. "Richard... couldn't talk... couldn't talk to him."

I just stood there, dumbstruck. _How could the Commonwealth be so cruel as to deprive her of communication with her only family?_

With nothing to say, I motioned for the two to get back to the sub. Zoe nodded, leading Gemma to the Service Deck. When we got there, something was wrong. "Where is the Slicky?" Zoe asks worriedly. I shrug, and scan the immediate area for any signs of the vessel. I pace around the entire deck, but without luck. "I just can't seem to locate it!"

Zoe smugly replies, "So much for your 'It won't get stolen' claims." I roll my eyes. _That's not helping!_

"Maybe you could use your Dark Gift." _Oh yeah_ , I remembered. _If it's in the ocean, I can find where it is!_ I tell them what my plan would entail. After the briefing, I plunge into a moon pool, embracing the startlingly cold water. Casting a dense net of sound into the ocean, I quickly find where it is. _It's floating! Just a few feet away!_ I rise back up to the surface to catch a breath, and I decide to do what is perhaps the most ill-advised thing I have ever done.

Gemma protests, "Hey! You aren't going to dive without—" I nod to her and propel myself through the moon pool. When I get out, I immediately feel like a blue whale was sitting on me. _Don't think_ , I said to myself. _Just get in the sub._ Swimming through those few feet felt like I was forced to swim across Benthic Territory. When I managed to touch the hatch, I froze. _Lack of air... don't die... open hatch._ Miraculously, I somehow opened the airlock. As soon as all the water was gone from the airlock, I must've blacked out, because I don't remember anything that happened in that time.

So now I'm here, in this little sardine can, two hundred feet under the surface of the ocean. _What should I do now?_ "Oh yeah, I should get back to Zoe and Gemma," I say aloud to myself. _My mind is probably messed because of the whole oxygen/pressure thing._ As such, I was a lot more careful than usual when I maneuvered the vessel to the dockside of the Service Deck. Gemma and Zoe clambered in without a moment's hesitation. Gesturing to Gemma, I offer for her to pilot the vehicle while I rest, but she doesn't respond.

"I think this is for you, Ty," Zoe remarks, while Gemma was intently reading a piece of paper that I hadn't seen on the Slicky before. Gemma paled after backing away. "Go ahead," she whispers. "Read it."

"The sheet has a very peculiar font and format, which might give me some clues," I thought aloud as I read it.

heLLO tY ToWNSon. IF You aRE woNderiNG How yOuR jUNk sUB gOT OUt of the DOCkS, JUSt ReMeMbeR THAt wE diD It. wE know wheRE yOu are. We knOw wHat you Are DoING rIGhT NoW. we WIll Not forGIVE oR FOrGet. wE ARE EVeRYwheRE. YOu, Or YouR fRiends, Or anYONE Else caNnOt EscAPE uS. SiNCe yOu HavE sUcH CAPABilIties, yoU aRE a tHrEAt, And we WiLl havE YoU dEsTrOyeD. lUcK cANnOt Save you. a NeW fORcE HAs COme inTo plaY, whicH YOu CannOT COMPreHEnD, AnD iT Will Be yoUr ULtImatE UnDoING. this is A CouRtESy thAT we arE DOIng for YOU. Also, aBoUT thE VOicES? tHose ArE ReAL, AnD ThEy wiLL BE reSponSiBLE fOR incoMpReHEnSIble acts. coNsIDer YoURselF FoREWARned.

"I'm screwed." My mind was spinning from the incredibly cryptic text, which had all of its facts that I knew correct. Even now, seconds later, I still can't comprehend what the meaning of the message truly is. What I do know for now is that my life is about to turn upside down. I put my head in my hands and sighed, scared of what the future would bring. If I die soon, hopefully I will be preserving what I think is right, and not give up in the face of strife.


	5. Chapter 3: A Pertinent Warning

"Look at those things! They are so adorable!"

"They are not adorable! On the contrary, I'd say they are dangerous! I'm getting a harpoon gun!" Gemma was incensed and looked ready to declare war.

I looked up, and do you know what I saw? A flipping school of great whites! "Zoe, you do know they are coming for us?" I hurriedly got my shockprod and harpoon guns in order to fend off the beasts. "Well, why are you wearing a dive suit in here?" Zoe was trying to stifle a giggle as she stared at my comically shaped helmet. "If the sharks attack the house, especially since Ma and Pa are gone, they could deflate the house or flood it!"

Gemma then hastily wore her oversized diveskin, which made me wince, as one that doesn't fit properly could kill you. That was what led up to now. I am currently writing this on my waterproof computer, with a tiger shark sized harpoon gun, in a jellyfish shaped inflatable house.

"We are so screwed right now," Gemma commented, and I couldn't agree more.

The sharks now encircled the house and were approaching the boundary. Gemma stepped as far back from the moon pool as possible. I placed the tip of my shockprod in the moon pool. Zoe gazed outside, watching for any movement from the swarm of sharks that might endanger us even further. Out of nowhere, Zoe shouted, "There's a person with the sharks!" Sure enough, a person, without a diveskin, (how does he survive the pressure?) and teal hair, was in the midst of the herd, and he was swimming right for us!

"So this is the hitman who's going to get me," I ruefully remarked. "What a fortunate occurrence!"

Suddenly, the power went out. "It's okay, probably just a short outage," Gemma muttered, as I used my biosonar to scan my surroundings. Augmented by my already excellent vision, I could detect that this mysterious person was past the outer buildings, and was headed for the moon pool.

Zoe darted back to her room in order to secure her precious fish from the sharks, while Gemma hid behind the kitchen, ready to kill anything that might get inside our abode. In a flash, however, I sensed that Gemma lay sprawling on the ground. _This is bad_ , I thought. _They've managed to get in_. I hesitantly pulled the trigger of my shockprod, which sent a terrifyingly powerful electric arc through the moon pool.

"Ouch! That hurt!" _Oh no. He's inside now_. "What do you want with me?" I demanded. "I don't even know who you are, let alone what I've done to you to deserve this fate."

The disembodied voice responded in disbelief. "You've done something to me? Other than that horrific shock, you haven't done anything to me! Look here, Ty," the stranger added, "I came here to warn you."

Listening to his voice, I finally realized that he wasn't going to harm me. His voice was that of a teenager, about my age. He sounded scared, of what I believe was the unseen enemy. As such, I decided to let him tell me more about this threat.

"Oh, but I must apologize for not introducing myself! My name is Sharkboy," he continued, "and Lavagirl, my friend, is up in space. She doesn't like water that much, I'm afraid."

Before he could go on, Gemma got up and interjected excitedly. "Are you and your friend the Sharkboy and Lavagirl? I saw a movie about you two when I was younger," she reminisced.

"Well, yes," he blushed. With the power back on, I let out a silent whoop of joy. "This might get confusing, so just sit tight.

"After we saved our universe—" _wait,_ _what?_ "—we were just chilling around, doing stuff, when this mysterious old man comes to our rocket ship and gives us a message. He said, 'You must deliver this vital information to the boy known as Ty Townson, as he alone can save us all from what is going to happen.'

"He also gives Lavagirl a modification for our ship to do something called interuniversal travel. Apparently, we live in separate universes, but the boundaries have started to break down, enabling us to get here. Did you understand that?"

My mind was utterly confused. _I don't think he'd be lying, but it all seems too crazy to be true. Anyways,_ I reasoned to myself, _that message did talk about an unseen force doing unimaginable things, and this does sound like a good contender for that!_

"I guess so," Gemma replied. "It's the only good explanation I can understand, with the message and other wacky things happening to us. Please give us the warning, so we could be…" She paused. "... _warned_."

Sharkboy digressed. "A war is brewing, one which cannot be won. He gave us three cryptic pieces of advice to survive. The first is _to be prepared for anything_. The second is _to read_. And finally, the third is _to hide, or else you will be erased_." While Sharkboy was speaking, Zoe crept back into the living room and was probably eavesdropping, without noticing. "Anyways, how did you know where to look for us?" Zoe asked obnoxiously, after those bombshell bits of information were dropped.

"Erm… the old man also told me to look for a book called 'Dark Life', so I bought a copy of it in my universe. I believe it was a bestseller," Sharkboy replied. "Yes! I knew that was stellar writing material! In your face, Zoe!" I cheered petulantly. "But that was in a different universe," she pouted.

"So we should read fiction as it might be true in a different universe?" Gemma inquired. "I believe so" was the response. "One more thing before I leave," Sharkboy added. " _They_ are coming for you. Be careful." With that, he swam out and away from the house, followed closely by the school of sharks.

"Do you think we'll be alive by the day after tomorrow?" I asked. Gemma responded, uncertain, saying, "I hope so." "Hey! Stop acting so optimistic!" Zoe interrupted. "Or was the word pastrami? …whatever word means 'you think everything is doomed', stop being like that!" Both Gemma and I chuckled at that.

Now, here I am trying to write everything down before the world (okay, universe) [okay, universes] end(s). And to all a good night.


	6. Chapter 4: A Startling Discovery

We are screwed.

100% screwed.

Why does it have to be this? This is worse than every other single flipping disaster I've had to deal with, combined! Oh, but first, let me backtrack. After the visit from Sharkboy, I had to prepare for what was coming. I trained Zoe and Gemma to use anything and everything as a weapon, so that they could fight back without any prep time. (* _queues epic prep theme_ *) And as for me? I've improved my Dark Gift to the point where I can clearly "see" for two miles! Anyways, I'm done with the bragging. (For now)

I immediately informed my parents about the visit with Sharkboy, which piqued their interest. After telling them about the whole debacle, the gravely nodded. "Follow me, Ty," Pa said. "I have something to show you." He deftly unlocked a hidden latch somewhere in the kitchen, which surprisingly opened a heretofore closed door, with stairs going downwards.

"I can see that whatever you're trying to show me is very secret, but why would you go through all of this trouble to conceal something?" I never knew Pa to act so secretive like this, as he was always open with us about everything. "Well, you'll soon see why. Carolyn had a part in it," Pa whispered conspiratorially. "I sure did!" Ma piped in, as we started the descent downwards into depths I've never even imagined of before.

Once we reached the bottom, I looked back at the surface. It was like a bright light shining through the clear waters of the known and into the murky depths of the unfamiliar. As I pondered, Ma was entering in what I think would've had to be a complex string of characters into a high-tech lock of some kind. After a minute, the locked door opened, revealing a facility which would seem fit in a sci-fi thriller. "Well," I reasoned with myself, "if we are in a universe with collapsing 'walls', then it wouldn't seem too preposterous that we all live in a fantasy world."

"I haven't shown you this before, as it is extremely powerful, but I think now is an appropriate time, due to the extenuating circumstances." That was a major understatement, which was really abnormal behavior for Pa.

He gestured to a menacing weapon which looked like it could kill a herd of blue whales with a single shot. "This used to be our marine lab, you know," commented Ma. "Back in the day, before you were born, we developed many interesting things here." Pa added, "Like this monster of a gun. It made a bang so loud that—" he winced—"it'd probably stun all the fish in a ten-foot radius of it."

As my parents were reminiscing, I looked around the lab and found something that caught my eye. In the otherwise immaculately clean laboratory was a desk with papers messily strewn around it. On a whim, I took the topmost paper and started to read it.

 _Commonwealth Patent No. 691,337 is owned by: Carolyn and John Townson_

 _This invention regards the alteration of bodily structure and traits using a very specific biological analog of a commonly found aliphatic hydrocarbon._

 _Section 5C: Consumption_

 _In order to be consumed, the nontoxic compound MUST be taken by incorporating it into dishes with the bioluminescent fish of the species Pygocentrus Zerda as it has special binders enabling the compound to be absorbed and broken down by the bloodstream. It only works on people who are below the age of 21, however. _

_Footnote 13 of Section 14: Concealment_

 _To ensure subjects don't know about experimentation, use classic methods of subterfuge and disinformation so test can be unbiased. One example could be to have the populace and doctors call it a "Dark Gift"._

After reading these snippets of the patent filing, my anger mounted. Here people were, thinking the Dark Gifts were a result of the water pressure, and as a result thought that all pioneers have messed-up brains, when it was actually experimentation! "I have been lied to by everyone I love! Is there nobody left that I can trust, not even myself?" I fumed as I prepared to confront my parents, without a trace of rationality within me.

"WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME? AM I JUST AN EXPERIMENT TO YOU, A TEST SUBJECT? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS, NOT JUST TO ME, BUT TO EVERY SINGLE KID IN BENTHIC TERRITORY? THESE 'GIFTS' HAVE BROUGHT US SO MUCH PAIN FROM PREJUDICES, AND YOU CHOSE TO LET IT BE LIKE THAT? YOU TWO WERE THE ONLY ONES, OTHER THAN THE MURDEROUS COMMONWEALTH, WHO KNEW ABOUT THIS! SHAME ON YOU FOR SUBJECTING US TO A SERIES OF TESTS, MAKING ALL OF US WITH THE 'GIFTS' NOTHING MORE THAN A BUNCH OF LAB RATS!" My outburst made my parents jump, which only made me feel more detached and lonely as I knew their true intentions.

"W-Well, we only had the—" Ma began to say, but I cut her off and stormed upstairs to the kitchen.

(Note by Me from the present: Since it takes a long time to recollect things, and I don't have a lot of that, from this point until the present I'll just use the automated voice recorder thing, so be prepared for the automated logs)

 _Log #38: 07/03, 18:47:39 BTT (Benthic Territory Time)_

I paced around the kitchen, my mind deep in thought. "Has this world gone mad?" I asked myself rhetorically. "Has all law and reason broken down just because of a mysterious higher force? Or is it that the higher force seeks to restore law and reason, and we lesser beings getting devastated are just the collateral damage, simply pawns in what could be a greater fight." My head spun as my thoughts went into the realms of not just the unknown, but also the incomprehensible. This left me in a brief existential crisis, causing me to question whether I should really care to not fall into Death's embrace. However, I quickly shook off those offending ideas, which were too bleak even for my (new and improved, with 1000% less optimism) pessimistic outlook on the world.

Finally, in a moment of pure resolve, I decided to tell Gemma and Zoe about the events that'd just transpired, albeit in a very discreet manner. "I've been keeping too many secrets for too long, which might be my ultimate undoing," I asserted to myself, as I climbed inside the Slicky. "It's time to speak."


End file.
